Long Recovery
by Thyme41
Summary: Story on the recovery period between Outer Heaven and Shadow Moses.
1. Long Recovery Chapter 1

Long Recovery  
  
Alaska was too cold. Snake found himself cursing, out loud, repeatedly, to the nothingness in his empty fireplace.  
  
"Damn wood, stupid matches." Strings upon strings of incoherent curses erupted from his mouth as he quickly got out of bed and put on three layers. Venturing outside was not on the top of his priorities, not since he arrived, but he would freeze to death without more wood for the fire. He recently found out that burning ashes didn't get him very warm. Outside the snow fell diagonally in rapid twists and turns, the wind broke around his hood and tossed the fur lining about. He quickly ran to the shed and pulled out a pile of firewood, scurrying back inside as if it would somehow be magically warmer now. He dropped the whole pile into the fireplace, doused it with lighter fluid, and set it ablaze. As he stepped out of his multiple layers of clothing he paused to thaw out each part of his body.  
  
He slowly crept back into bed, content with the fire's warmth, finally able to try to stop tossing and turning and finally get to sleep naturally, without sedatives. He had been unable to do even that since he arrived in Alaska.  
  
The next morning the sun was shining. He could hardly tell the difference by the temperature, in fact it seemed to be a few degrees colder now.  
  
He heard whispers outside, so he looked out the window. Two native boys dressed in animal furs were hiding behind a pile of fresh snow. He chuckled and went to put on his three layers.  
  
Outside, the boys seemed curious and intuitive, yet somehow fearful, of him. No doubt they had come to see for themselves whether the rumor of a tired grumpy old man living in the old cabin was true.  
  
Feeling mischievous, Snake picked up a piece of snow as he meandered over to the two boys to say hello. Their native language was easy enough to pick up, so he tried that, greeting them warmly.  
  
"Well hiya, sir." They said, giggling.  
  
Snake raised one brow.  
  
"How long have you been out here?" He asked, rolling up the snow into a ball behind his back.  
  
"We just got here." One of them said, he looked to be the oldest.  
  
"And tell me, do your parents usually let you roam around grumpy old mysterious men's properties?" He said, looking authoritative, yet happy.  
  
"Uhh.no.we just-"  
  
"Wanted to see the old man for yourselves? Well here I am, not so glamorous eh?"  
  
"Uhh."  
  
"Have you been in any wars?" The younger one finally spoke up in a much smaller voice.  
  
"That's none of your business," He said too quickly and too sharply, "You better run along home. Come back tomorrow, if you like, I may tell you a war story."  
  
"Uhh, yes sir." The older one said. He took his sibling by the shoulder and they both scurried away.  
  
"Wait, I have something for you." He said, remembering the snowball.  
  
Without looking, both stopped and shook as if in fear.  
  
"Don't worry, it's not-"  
  
Both of them turned around at the same time and sent two snowballs hurling at his stomach, hitting their mark.  
  
"Agh, hey!" He tossed his and barely missed the older one's shoulder.  
  
The two boys took off running into the distance and out of sight behind a mound of snow.  
  
Snake smiled as they left, comforted, for the first time since.No, he would not think of those times now. Feeling the cold returning to his face, he went back inside and attended to the days chores. 


	2. Long Recovery Chapter 2

Snake peered out the window as the two boys came upon the snow-covered hill just before his cabin. They wore similar animal skin coats like before. He smirked at them and they both smiled in greeting.

Standing up from his bed, he opened the door for them and then set about making some hot chocolate. The boys brushed the snow off them before stepping inside; the older one closed the door.

"I'm glad you came, do you know what hot chocolate is?" Snake said, not knowing truly how advanced their culture was.

"Just because we wear animal fur doesn't mean we're stupid sons of native tribal leaders who hate white men and their advances." The older boy said, the younger one added a shake of his head and a giggle.

"Whoa, okay, well, here you go." Snake said, handing each one of them a mug with steaming chocolate in it. They took them with mitten born hands. "Oh, go ahead and set them down on the coffee table, you can put your coats on the loveseat."

Both boys immediately put the mugs on the table and began taking off their coats. Snake took a seat in the large recliner chair and sipped a thermos. Realizing how cliché the scene looked, he quickly got up and pulled over a kitchen chair to sit in. Both boys chuckled at his actions.

With a loud knock the door was swung open then shut immediately, a woman with dark hair pulled down the hood of a coat that looked like a ski jacket.

"I wanted to make sure it was okay for my boys to stay here for a while. My husband and I are going to town today to pick up supplies for the month and the boys begged to stay here. So is it okay?" She said, he voice emphatically feminine.

"Uhh yeah, that's fine, I asked them to come in fact." Snake said, not smiling, yet still not unhappy or angry to see her.

"Kay, good, I wanted to make sure. Eh, can I talk to you privately for a moment?" She said, motioning to the door to his bedroom, how she knew the door to his bedroom from another closet was beyond him.

"Uhh, sure." He got up and walked to the door after the woman, noting the boys' silence.

In his bedroom the woman flicked on a light and turned to him, her eyes seemed to be ablaze.

"I also want to make sure you're not going to do anything funny to my boys. We don't abide pedophiles around these parts. If your aim was to do something screwy then I'll take them with me now and I wont say anything to anybody about this." She said, he was actually afraid of her voice; more afraid than a man with a gun pointed at his head.

"Point taken, I'm not that kind of guy. I would kill a man who would do that to a child." Snake retorted.

"Good," she spat, "We are in agreement then. I had better go, my husband will be waiting." Snake noticed a slight emphasis on _husband_. 

"Yes ma'am, shall I send the boys home if it gets late or will you pick them up?" He asked.

"I'll pick them up, _early_, before it's dark out." She hissed.

"Right, okay, see you later then." Snake caught a momentary scowl as she left the door to his cabin. Both boys seemed to relax their muscles and Snake did too. Sitting down in the kitchen chair he crossed his legs.

"So you want to hear the stories of an old war hero eh?" He began, hoping to take their minds of their stressful banshee of a mother.

"Yes, please." The younger one said, as if it were a practiced statement he had recently learned.

"We never hear any stories from our dad, he's always too tired." Added the older one.

"Alright then, let's see, I first began about 20 years ago…" Snake began with his training at FoxHound, first hearing about the Zanzibaar Revolt and his involvement with it.

Several hours later he heard a familiar knock on the door. Then a burst of wind, flashes of color, and before he knew it she had her boys dressed. She held them by their shoulders.

"Sorry I have to cut this short but…I…My…" She said, he voice heaving, tears drying quickly on her face.

"What's wrong, what happened?" Snake said, genuinely worried. He had met strong mothers like her, they were usually not easily shaken.

"My…husband…He's dead."


End file.
